Literature
Collaborative Poetry
Matthew Battles talks about similarities in poetic style between works of different epochs as part of "re-verse: A Participatory Evening of Poetry." The event engaged with the metaLAB @ Harvard, an interdisciplinary teaching unit, and was part of the week-long Harvard LITFest.
'My Struggle' Doesn't Struggle to Succeed
In “Book Four,” Knausgaard peels backs the curtains on his early years and brings forth a brutally honest story that remains hard to tear away from despite being incredibly mundane.
Lydia Davis at the Harvard Book Store
“If there is any narrative in it at all, if there’s a little tiny scrap of narrative, if there’s an I, if there’s a thought, if there’s a ladybug doing something...then I think it is justified to call it a story,” she said.
'God Help the Child' a Mature Morrison Child
The novel does not seem like a bid at another Nobel Prize-winning masterpiece. Short, plot-driven, and more colloquial than complexly poetic, the book is precisely the incisive fable it attempts to be.
‘The Fishermen’ Will Reel You In
Using the story of four young brothers as a magnifying lens, in "The Fishermen" Chigozie Obioma delves into the ways in which belief can build the deepest of bonds, only to eviscerate them in an instant.
The Jungle Book
The Harvard Ballet Company reimagines Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, "The Jungle Book" in April 2015.
Scene and Heard: Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro is a Big Deal, both capitals intended. Following his breakthrough 1989 novel “The Remains of the Day,” he’s kept it up over a career of over two decades with a string of bestsellers. You might remember his last, the heartwrenching “Never Let Me Go,” from its movie adaptation starring the equally heartwrenching Andrew Garfield. His new novel, “The Buried Giant,” is big even by Ishiguro’s standards: It’s his first in 10 years, and expectations are higher than Memorial Church’s steeple.
Radcliffe Fellow Talks Novel, Nuances of Sri Lankan Politics
Radcliffe Institute fellow V.V. Ganeshananthan ’02 discussed the process of writing her upcoming novel about Sri Lankan politics on Wednesday afternoon.
'The Buried Giant' Unearths Truths
Although at times tiresome in its stilted dialogue and simplistic characters, “The Buried Giant” is nonetheless a moving parable of remembrance, loss, and the resilience of love.
Sacvan Bercovitch, Courageous Literary Scholar, Dies at 81
Bercovitch, a leader in the field of American studies, died of cancer on Dec. 9. He was 81.
10 Questions with Hilton Als
Hilton Als is a staff writer for the New Yorker. He wrote “The Women,” and recently published a new novel, “White Girls.”
Colton A. Valentine
Colton A. Valentine '16 is a literature concentrator in Lowell House. He finds power poses and bikram yoga the best ways to combat nihilism.
New Concentration Was Years in the Making
Although implementation is just a series of approvals away, much has yet to be determined for Harvard’s first-ever dramatic arts concentration.
Beatnik at the Barker
Breaking news: the dream of the ’90s is alive in our very own Barker Café. On Oct. 16, hipster Harvard students and professors were finally relieved of their pent-up anguish and at last given a quality coffee stop besides the distressingly mainstream Lamont Café or pricey Square establishments.
Daisy Chain: Books
FM asked the following seniors about their favorite books and genres, the novels they’re excited to read, and the works they wish they had time to learn more about. Each recommended a bookshelf they admired, and we followed the extensive trail.
Margaret Atwood Awarded 2014 Harvard Arts Medal
Acclaimed author Margaret E. Atwood was honored with the 2014 Harvard Arts Medal in a ceremony Thursday to mark the beginning of the 22nd Annual Arts First Festival.
LITFest Begins Tuesday
Events during the three-day festival include panel discussions about pursuing careers in writing and publishing led by recent Harvard graduates, as well as events with acclaimed authors, like Jamaica Kincaid.
Hemenway’s Short Stories: By the Fountain
As he drank water from the fountain he thought of the girl at the front desk. She was young and strong and wore a red “Hemenway Gymnasium” shirt. He smiled at her when she swiped his I.D. card, but they never spoke.
Goldsmith Awards
Alex S. Jones, left, and Thomas E. Patterson present the Goldsmith Book Prize awards to Kevin Arceneaux and Jaron Lanier for their books on partisan media and the effect of technology on society, respectively.
Same Story, New Book: Repackaging Humanities at Harvard
Recently, national news outlets have declared a crisis of the humanities. But at Harvard, the plot gets more complicated. The challenges facing Harvard's humanities necessitate changes to course offerings far more than the core of the humanistic enterprise.